Christmas goose à la Mama with pre-cooking

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 goose, approx. 6 kg
• 1 bunch of mugwort
• 2 apples
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• 1 large onion(s)
• Salt
• n. B. roux

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 hours; Total time approx. 9 hours

If you are using a frozen goose, it is best to thaw it overnight. Halve the apples, peel and halve the onions. Clean the carrots, leeks and celery from the soup vegetables and cut them into large pieces. Remove the giblet bag from the goose and set aside. It is best to remove the large fat reserves at the back of the goose and render them if necessary and turn them into goose fat. Now rub the goose inside and out with plenty of salt. Add the onion and apple pieces alternately to the goose and finally push the bunch of mugwort between them. Close the goose with roulade pins. Sewing it up is also an option, of course. Place the goose in the roasting tin with the breast side up. Add the root vegetables and the neck, stomach and heart from the giblet bag. Use the liver for something else. Fill the roasting tin with water, enough so that it does not boil over, but covers as much as possible. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Then simmer on low heat for about 1.5 hours. Then let the goose cool down and place it breast-side up in the lid of the roasting pan. Let the broth cool down too. Store everything in the refrigerator overnight or in a very cool place. The fat solidifies in the refrigerator and can be easily removed the next day. Alternatively, skim off the fat. Take 2 liters of the broth for the sauce. The remaining broth, giblets, and neck can be used to make noodle soup later. This can also be frozen. Preheat the oven to 100°C fan/convection oven and place the goose in the lid of the roasting pan on the rack in the lowest oven shelf. Pour over about 1 liter of broth. Cook the goose in the oven for 5 hours. Baste with the broth collected in the roasting pan every 30 minutes. After 5 hours in the oven, set the oven to 180°C fan/convection oven with a grill and roast the skin until crispy in 15-30 minutes. Watch this area and turn it off before it gets too brown. Cut up the goose. For the sauce, either make a roux with flour and butter and pour in the broth, or thicken the broth with packaged roux. Season with salt. You can also add the broth from the roasting pan at the end. We serve the goose with raw dumplings and red cabbage.